The subject of the invention is a novel substitute for lanolin, consisting of a mixture of synthetic surface-active materials derived from fatty products and its use for the preparation of cosmetic and pharmaceutical ointments, creams, emulsions and stick products.
Lanolin is a known component in the preparation of cosmetic compositions. Its refined and deacidified form as well as various of its derivatives are used for the preparation of emulsions and stick products. Its composition is highly complex and only partly identified. To a large part it consists of esters of long-chain carboxylic acids and hydroxycarboxylic acids with cholesterol and lanosterol. Lanolin is valued especially as emulsifying agent, stabilizer and co-emulsifying agent because of its high water absorbing capacity, and as an emollient in ointments and stick preparations because of its skin softening characteristics. Despite the described advantages, however, lanolin also has certain disadvantages. For example, allergic reactions have been reported when using cosmetics containing lanolin and which were said to have been caused by certain pesticide residues and polycyclic alcohols present in the natural product. This is the reason for requiring information about the lanolin content on the label according to the cosmetics regulations of 1977 in Germany. Another disadvantage of the natural product is that it has a pronounced odor which requires stronger masking perfume, which sometimes is not well tolerated by persons with sensitive skin or a tendency to allergic reactions. Besides, as a natural product, lanolin is subject to considerable variations in quality, price and supply. These reasons alone make a synthetic substitute desirable. The chemical synthesis of lanolin is impossible because of its complex composition. Attempts at creating useful, technologically comparable alternatives so far have resulted in unsatisfactory substitutes, which cannot compare with the natural product either with respect to its emulsifying capabilities or its skin-softening characteristics. Consequently there existed the problem of creating a synthetic substitute for lanolin resembling as closely as possible the natural product in its commercial application and cosmetic characteristics.